About Viva
VIVA (Volunteers in Irish Veterinary Assistance) was founded in 1999 by Brendan Mimnagh, a veterinary surgeon, to harness the goodwill of the Irish agricultural and veterinary sectors in assisting livestock aid programmes in the Developing World. These programmes have an important contribution to make in fighting hunger and alleviating poverty in the Developing World
Over 600 million of the poorest people in the Developing World are entirely dependent upon livestock for their livelihoods. For these people, animals mean much more than just meat, milk, wool, feathers, hair and hides – they provide draft power, represent cash and a store of wealth for emergencies, confer status, fertilise gardens and crops, provide fuel through biogas and serve important cultural functions. Through their work as four-legged tractors and from the manure they provide, draft cattle and buffalo enable families to produce sufficient levels of vegetable and cereal crops. With these animals comes a world of hope but only if they are healthy and productive. VIVA works with these marginalized communities in several ways:
- We enable community groups to buy livestock and begin to create sustainable livelihoods
- We train community animal health workers and supply them with medicines where access to veterinary services is restricted
- We support animal breeding programmes by training artificial insemination technicians and providing them with the necessary supplies and equipment
- We provide training and advice for our partners using volunteer vets
VIVA is a member of the Vétérinaires Sans Frontières International (VSF), a network of non-profit organizations working all over the world in the field of agriculture and livestock production, animal health and animal welfare to support small-scale farmers. At present VIVA is partnering with VSF Belgium in a major livestock project in the Karamojo region in north-eastern Uganda
